Chapter 2: Departure

A Chapter by Chris

“Ninety-eight . . . ninety-nine . . . one hundred,” Skylar quietly counted out loud as he did push-ups. He stopped at one hundred and let himself drop to the floor on his stomach. He rolled over and stared up at the blank ceiling for a moment before sitting up to look around his small home.

The journey he was about to go on would be long, so he knew he probably wouldn't be back for a while. It didn't bother him in the slightest though. He had always wanted to do a little traveling. Sure Wildtree was nice, but he wanted to see other parts of the world, and this would be a good chance. Not only that, but this journey would help him prove to everyone that he wasn't that weak after all. However, he was more concerned with proving this to Spike than anyone else, which he planned to do while they went to Fairvald.

His parents were currently gone, so he wouldn't be able to say any good-byes to them. He rose to his feet and walked over to his bed where a backpack sat, ready for the expedition that would take place shortly. Skylar slung it onto his back before heading out the door to make his way to the leader's office.

When he came into the single room of the building, he noticed that Spike was all ready there. Blaxton was also there, seated behind that wooden desk of his like the previous day. His right hand seemed to be clutching something as he sat there and looked at the two.

“Okay, he's here now, so can we have the gem please?” Spike asked.

“Both of you are aware of where Fairvald is located, correct?” Blaxton questioned, ignoring Spike.

“Yeah, it's in the north,” Spike answered a wee bit impatiently.

“All right then,” Blaxton said. “I am giving the gem to Skylar. He will be the one to hold the gem until the two of you reach Fairvald.”

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” asked Spike. “It might only create more problems for us if Skylar is in charge of holding the gem.”

“Do not question my decisions,” replied Blaxton a little sternly. “I have my reasons for this.”

Skylar didn't bother saying anything, but instead took the gem that sat in the palm of the leader's hand. He placed it in the pocket of his pants. Spike watched him for a moment before looking back at Blaxton.

“If that's all you have to say, then I guess we'll be going now,” Spike muttered.

“Actually, there is one more thing I want to warn you two about,” said Blaxton. “Do not mention the gem to anyone during your journey. You can't be certain who might be in an allegiance with Blade. If word happened to reach him, then you can definitely be certain that he'll try to stop you at all costs.”

Spike gave a small nod of his head before turning around and stepping towards the door, Skylar following close behind. Not a single word was said between the two as they made their way out of the village. It wasn't until about a couple minutes afterwards when Spike decided to speak.

“Listen, if we're going to do this successfully, I think we should lay down a couple rules,” said Spike. “First of all, if we ever have to fight, stay back and let me handle it.”

“That's not fair!” cried Skylar. “I want in on some of the action too you know.”

“If you fight you'll only get yourself killed and probably get the gem stolen,” muttered Spike. “It would just be better off if you stay out of the way and let me take care of all the fighting. You'll just end up getting in my way anyway.”

“I don't care what you say. I'm going to fight. I can't just sit back and do nothing.”

“Fine. Just try not to get yourself killed, alright?”

Skylar didn't respond. He just looked around the forest instead, trying to get rid of the annoyance that was in him. They were only a few minutes into the journey and it all ready wasn't going as great as what he thought it would. Spike had absolutely no confidence in his fighting skills, which only made Skylar more determined to prove him wrong.

After walking for about an hour or two, they finally reached the exit of the forest. The two warriors were now walking through a vast field. The tall grass swayed softly in the gentle wind that swept through. A ways to the northeast was a mountain range. The two had all ready made plans to go around it since it would be less dangerous that way. There was also a river that snaked its way across the plains, which Spike and Skylar came to shortly.

“We should probably fill up our canteens,” suggested Spike. “We have no idea when we'll reach another water source, so we should make sure we have plenty of water before we continue.”

Skylar nodded and the two knelt down by the sandy bank of the rushing water. They got their canteens out and filled them. After taking a small sip from his, Skylar put it away before sitting down. He removed the green gem from his pocket before holding it up in the sunlight to examine it.

“Do you really think this gem really has enough power to defeat someone like Blade?” Skylar asked a little curiously as he continued to look at it as if expecting to see a small glimpse of the power this gem supposedly had.

“Just put it away before you lose it,” muttered Spike.

“Relax, what could possibly go wrong?”

But it appeared that Skylar spoke a little too soon. Right after he said that, a hawk swooped down and snatched the gem right from his hand. Skylar looked at his empty hand for a second before looking towards the hawk.

“Damn it Skylar, get it back!” Spike shouted as he sprung to his feet.

Skylar did the same thing and quickly tried to jump towards the bird that was slowly gaining altitude. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to jump high enough but instead came just a few inches short of being able to reach it. As he descended back to the ground, Spike quickly jumped up and landed on Skylar's back. Before Skylar could crash to the ground from this added weight, Skylar made another leap which was straight towards the bird. However, he too wasn't able to reach it.

As soon as Spike's feet touched the ground, he made a quick chant for a spell before shooting a single fireball from the palm of his hand. The spell went straight towards the hawk, but it moved to the side to avoid the attack. After mumbling a couple curse words, Spike tried again, but the hawk was able to dodge this one too. By this time, the hawk was too high in the air to possibly hit with a spell.

“C'mon, let's follow it!”

After Skylar said that, the two boys broke into a run, trying to keep up with the hawk so that they could maybe get the gem back.

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